Network resource utilization and traffic distribution in a network environment can be optimized using an intermediary network traffic management apparatus configured to communicate with client computing devices and content and/or service providers, such as one or more server computing devices. A network traffic management apparatus can be utilized to receive requests from client computing devices and communicate with the server computing devices to open connections that can be utilized to service the requests. Network traffic management apparatuses can be used in an asymmetric deployment, and disposed proximate either the client computing devices or server computing devices, or in a symmetric deployment, and disposed proximate both the client and server computing devices.
In one asymmetric deployment, a network traffic management apparatus is disposed proximate the server computing devices, such as between the server computing devices connected to a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet. In such a deployment, the network traffic management apparatus can perform a variety of functions including enforcing network security policies by facilitating authentication and authorization services. These services can be provided by one or more domain controllers or active directory servers (referred to herein as “active directory servers”) in communication with the network traffic management apparatus.
The active directory servers can be managed by a domain name service (DNS) server that monitors the health of the active directory servers and responds to requests from the network traffic management apparatus for the Internet Protocol (IP) address of an active directory server that can provide the appropriate security services. However, reliance by the network traffic management apparatus on the DNS server for such functionality is not desirable because the DNS server is a single point of failure, the round trip communications with the DNS server are expensive, and the DNS server is relatively less efficient at implementing server health monitoring and selection functionality.